Project Maria (Oneshot)
by TQstars
Summary: Based on the tumblr askblog (Askprojectmaria). After the incident on the ARK Gerald Robotnik escaped confinement and spent his energy working on his final project; a memoir of his lost granddaughter Maria. She was meant to remind him of Maria and even give her the life Maria never had. But something happened upon the project's completion and she was left for many years till now.


**Based on the tumblr askblog (also created by me) AskProjectMaria about an au where Gerald Robotnik tries to recreate the memory of Maria after the incident on the ARK. To read more about the au you can head over to .com for all the information and details!**

 **Project Maria is practically my brain baby at this point and I wanted to share the little thing I wrote based on it ;v;**

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Darkness, that was all she knew. She knew of blackness and the sensation of floating; a slight density in her fingertips. She was floating yet felt slightly heavy but she could not see for her eyes were closed.

In her head were pictures, samples of different images that represented certain words; trees, flowers, sky, water, mobians, humans, police man, nurse, child, adult. The pictures repeated themselves in a consistent loop with nothing but silence to accompany it. There were the occasional clicks and wirrs and maybe even a thunk and a clank, but other than that there was nothing. Nothing compared to the lively buzz that graced her ears long ago, but that was all it was; a buzz.

Suddenly amidst the darkness there was a small faint light illuminating everything. At least it seemed that way; all it did was introduce a flash of a lighter dark into her eyes. She wanted to move but the heaviness she felt would not allow her. She continued to stay motionless, listening as sounds were brought to life, clicks and wirrs and beeps and taps were heard. But what was most unusual was the sound of a….voice? She knew what the word meant, but she wasn't sure.

"Oh wow, I never thought something like this would be here in the Mystic Ruins!" The voice was soft, light, cheerful. She listened closely, trying to find words to describe the sound.

She felt a gentle thump close to her.

"A hedgehog girl…." The voice sounded in awe, full of wonder and curiosity. It sounded close. "U-Uh s-sorry miss I didn't mean to stare…."

She was surprised. Was the voice speaking to her? But then for all she knew, there could be others in her space of darkness.

"I wonder who made you?" The voice grew distant and she didn't want it to leave, "Hmm let's see if I can get some information on ya." She heard more beeps and taps but it was then replaced with a groan.

"Whoever made you didn't want anyone to know it seems." The voice muttered before the beeps and taps returned again, "I can get you out though….provided you won't try and kill me that is."

Kill? She didn't like the word. She didn't like what it meant and the image it brought. She knew that death was inevitable but she preferred if it stayed long in the future rather than be brought by someone.

Suddenly there were more taps and wirrs; a loud mechanical sigh followed by the splashes and splooshes. She felt the floating sensation lessen and felt the weight of her body as she descended; gravity, she assumed. A word that described the weight of being kept on the ground. At least that was one way to describe it.

Eventually her feet felt the cold, wet metal beneath her. She was oddly amused; ground was hard. She felt herself fall forward, only to be caught by something soft and small.

"Woah there hehe," The voice rang; laughing. "Guess you've never used your legs before."

She tried to move her arms; for she knew she had limbs, and found her hands running along something slim, smooth, and…squishy. Flesh maybe? The voice had to belong to someone alive after all. Voices came from people.

She felt the person flinch, "H-Hey wow are you awake?! Can you open your eyes?"

She knew what opening her eyes meant, but she was surprised to know her eyes had been closed the entire time. Slowly she tried lifting her eyelids and light filled her world.

Her bright blue orbs blinked from the sudden change as the darkness disappeared. She was met with colour; shades of dark greys and greens and browns and blues. She saw the light of a screen shining brighter than everything else; little buttons were before it, glowing just as bright.

She looked in front of her and found herself staring into equally blue eyes. A face, she mused. It was a nice face, slightly square with a white muzzle and fur sticking out; a mobian she noticed, with orange yellow fur and rather large ears. The mobian was smiling.

She blinked a few times before looking down at herself; blonde fur, slightly tanned arms. She pushed herself up slightly with support from the mobian in front of her. She saw long blonde quills framing her. She was wet, and realised she had probably been in water.

"Can you stand on your own?" The mobian asked, smile growing wider. She noticed the mobian had two tails swaying behind. "I'm gonna try and get those tubes off of you."

She looked around and saw grey tubes glowing with a blue hue attached to her head and her ankles, though on her ankles they were attached to red rings; seemingly glowing but only slight.

She also noticed she had a tube attatched to her heart. At least to her knowledge that was where her heart was. She watched at the two tailed mobian clasped a hand over the tube and another on her shoulder.

"Uh…" The mobian's cheeks were red, "P-Pardon me…."

Embarrassment she found, was the appropriate word to describe this mobian.

The tube was pulled from her and she winced slightly, realising that what she had experienced was most likely pain. It was a weird feeling and rather different from just knowing what pain meant. She placed a hand over her chest as a reaction and the mobian gave an apologetic look.

"Sorry, but I gotta get them off you." The mobian worked their way to her ankles; which she didn't feel as they were attatched to rings, before pulling her down to reach the ones on her head.

"I don't know if you can answer but," Eyes examined the rings on her ankles, "Are those a sort of power source?"

She searched her brain to see if she knew before looking for a way to answer. She bit her lip and nodded slowly.

"Ah I see. I won't try and remove them if you're wondering. Especially now that I know it's important." The mobian smiled, "I'm relieved you're not dangerous. But I really am curious as to why you're here. I can check the computer's database to see if any information on you has been deleted or transferred but that may take a while." They tilted their head, "And you're kind of my top priority right now."

"How about I take you to my workshop? It's a bit far but the walk should help you get used to your leg muscles, plus I'm sure you've never been outside huh?"

She nodded.

"Would this be the first time you've been awake?"

She nodded again.

"Can you speak?"

She shook her head.

"I see. Hmmm," The mobian pulled out a device, "I have this text to speech function but uh, can you read or spell?"

She was handed the device where she saw a screen with a keyboard. Hesitantly she ran her fingers along it.

'Aksndcktmgltos' The device spoke with a mechanical voice surprising her. She jumped slightly making the mobian laugh.

"It's okay it's okay, that's how it works. You type in things and it speaks for you. We can use this until you can get comfortable speaking and pronouncing things." The mobian eyed her curiously, "By the way what's your name? I'm Miles Prower, but you can call me Tails!"

She thought for a bit, did she even have a name? When she thought for a name only one came to mind.

'Project MARIA'

"Maria huh?" Tails made a face, wondering if the name was familiar. "That's a nice name you got there." Tails smiled.

'Are you called Tails because of your tails?' She asked suddenly. Tails laughed.

"Yep! That's exactly why. Uh, we should get out of here. You're still kinda wet you might get sick like that." Tails blushed, "U-Uh hmm…"

Maria watched as Tails scampered around the large room, before pulling out a big, worn out cloth. Tails dusted off as much as possible.

"You can use this to cover up." The cloth was draped around her before heading towards the open door.

'Cover up?'

"Yeah cause uh…hmm…" Tails scratched their head, "Why do you guys cover up?" Tails' voice was quiet as if muttering.

'I can cover up if you wish. Embarrassment…' She didn't mean to type out the last part, she just wanted to spell it out. She blinked in surprise at her mistake, looking at Tails who was equally wide eyed.

She stopped being surprised when Tails laughed.

"I guess that's true I am a bit embarrassed. I'm thinking of calling Amy and Cream since they'll be able to help you with uh, that, better than I can."

'Who?'

"My friends! Here I'll spell their names for you." Tails walked over to Maria and typed out on the device. Maria watched as the letters A-M-Y and C-R-E-A-M were spelt out.

'I see.'

"Yeah! But okay right off topic we really better go." Tails gently took Maria's hand before pulling her out of the door and into a series of long corridors. Tails was careful as Maria started moving her legs, getting used to the feeling of walking. She found herself enjoying it. After being in an immoble state for so long, moving her limbs became such a refreshing thing.

"This place is really old." Tails spoke, "I didn't realise this was here until I decided to go explore the Mystic Ruins. To think that this was under my nose the whole time. I could've found you much sooner." They continued to walk as Tails spoke to Maria.

"But you know? Everything here dates back to about fifty years ago! So uh, now that I think about it….I wonder who created you? Do you know?"

Tails released Maria's hand to allow her to type. She paused, wondering if she did know.

'I don't know a lot of things about myself.' She started to type, 'But I know a few things. I know I am called Project MARIA. I know that the rings on my ankles are a power source for me. I know I was created not born. And I know another name, Gerald Robotnik.'

Tails' eyes widened. "So your name really was familiar. J uh, wow, this is something."

'Is it bad?'

"No no it's more curious really. I'm going to go ahead and assume Professor Gerald Robotnik is your creator. Hmmm, maybe it's best if you stay away from a hedgehog called Shadow for now." Tails had a serious facial expression.

'Why?'

"It's just that, uh, he might not be very comfortable with you. I mean I know you guys probably haven't met but it's just…" It started to click for Tails what Maria might actually be, "You're probably going to remind him of someone he lost long ago, someone he really cared for. I don't want to shock him suddenly and I don't want anything to happen to you. Understand?"

Maria nodded instead as a response.

"Okay good." Tails smiled once more before reaching a large door. "Also I'm going to need you to prepare, you're going to be so blown away by this." Tails grinned making Maria wonder.

The door was opened and Maria found herself shielding her eyes from a bright light. When she was comfortable she blinked a few times, realising it was the sun that was shining.

Her eyes were wide with wonder as she held the device close to her and pulled the cloth over her more. She slowly stepped outside, feet walking from cold metal to warm, soft grass. She stared around from place to place; watching as the grass sat side by side with reddened earth and dusty stones. There were large trees so green and with sturdy trunks of brown bark. She ran around a bit, getting used her leg movements. She gripped the cloth and device so that they wouldn't fall before jumping a few times. Despite how she used to be she felt she was so full of energy she could keep running around for days.

Maria felt her face light up with a grin and she felt the urge to let out her voice. Her laughter rang out into the air and Maria understood that she was feeling happy, joyful, and she heard her voice reflect that.

It was a wonderful feeling to move and hear herself. To feel happiness. Everything was so colourful like the pictures in her head. But they weren't pictures, they were all alive. She felt her chest swell with the word life. She liked the word very much.

She turned around to see Tails chuckling at her behaviour. "I'm glad you like it." Tails grinned as widely as she did. "Come on, there's more to see!"

Tails took Maria's hand and they ran off, Tails showing her as much as possible before they reached the workshop.

She was very excited when they did, it had a clear view of the ocean. She liked it very much. Maria could see how the sky stretched and the sea stretched and how they met at the horizon, she could see how the sea glittered and the sky was bright, and could feel the sun shine down on her warmly. She looked and saw a large building and gave a smile with how it was just as warm as the place around it.

'Is that your workshop?' She asked, typing on the device once more. After hearing how her voice sounded, she wanted to learn how to speak so she could hear it more.

Tails nodded and walked up to the entrance, opening the door. "Yup! Come inside and make yourself comfortable!"

Maria walked in as Tails held the door for her, she marvelled at the sight of all of Tails gadgets and gizmos and well, everything. Tails had a nice place. She could get used to places like it. She wondered if the rest of the world was like Tails' place and the Mystic Ruins.

"I'll call Amy and Cream, just sit tight I'll be right back."

Maria nodded with a smile and watched as Tails disappeared.

"Wait so you found her in some sort of weird laboratory?" Maria heard a voice different from Tails' outside.

"Yeah! She's quite knowledgable but doesn't know how to speak. She's gotten very used to moving her legs though she seems to enjoy it a lot."

"I wonder if she's been alone this whole time…" A softer voice than the first was heard.

"Considering what you told us she's probably new to all this. But don't worry we'll help you!"

"That's right Mr. Tails! Amy and I will look after her just fine. Right Cheese?"

"Chao chao!"

"Thanks, I'm sure you girls would be able to help me out a lot."

Three figures then entered the workshop, one being Tails and Maria assumed the other two were Amy and Cream. Except she wasn't sure who was who.

The small figure ran to Maria, followed by a flying blue creature she assumed to be a Chao.

"Hello!" The small one's voice was soft and Maria recognised it as probably the voice of Cream. "My name is Cream and this is my Chao Cheese!"

"Chao chao!"

Maria smiled, 'Hello Cream I am Maria.' She stared down at the device, reading over her words.

A pink hedgehog sat down by Maria with crossed legs and grin, "I'm Amy." Maria found that Amy was eyeing her curiously. "Hey Maria," Amy asked, "You're not by any chance related to Shadow are you?"

Maria made a face, 'Tails said that I should stay away from Shadow for now.'

"Oh?" Amy turned to Tails, "Why'd you tell her that?"

"Ah well, I don't want an incident that could hurt Maria."

"Hm.." Amy pursed her lips, "I guess that might happen. WELL." Amy huffed, "We better get you all cleaned up huh? Tails asked me to bring some spare clothes and I kinda see why."

Maria stared curiously as Amy glanced up and down her. She was suddenly pulled to her feet by Cream; almost dropping the device and cloth much to Tails' embarrassment.

"We can use your bathroom right Mr. Tails?" Cream smiled, taking Maria by the hand.

"Huh? Oh yeah, absolutely!" Tails chuckled, "If you need me I'll be just here."

"Alright let's get to work girls!" Amy smiled before pushing Maria up a set of stairs towards one of the doors.

Maria found herself stepping inside a a bedroom with a single bed and simple furniture before being immediately shoved towards a door which opened to reveal a clean white tiled room; a bathroom. The device was gingerly removed from her hands by Cream who set it aside on the bed and the cloth was removed from her by Amy who tossed it on the floor.

"Hm, do you need these on?" Amy pointed at the red anklets on Maria's feet.

Maria nodded.

"Alright then, let's get a bath running for you and get all the weird tube gunk off ya." Amy plugged the bathtub before turning on the water. Maria watched as water filled the tub, occasionally being filled with soap and bubbling up. She stared in wonder at the bubbles before reaching her hand out to touch it.

Amy laughed, "Bubbles are cool huh?" She then lifted Maria's leg so that she could step into the bathtub, "Just ease yourself in okay? You might slip if you're not careful."

Maria did as she was told and was made to sit inside the tub. It felt nice. Immediately she felt her quills get pulled up and saw that it was being lathered in with bubbles. Maria closed her eyes as some of the bubbles fell down her face. Suddenly she felt a hand rinsing her face with water, allowing her to open her eyes slightly.

"Shampoo stings if it gets in your eyes." Cream leaned forward at her, "It's not very fun when it does." She giggled when Maria nodded in understanding.

As soon as she was all cleaned up Amy unplugged the bath and allowed the water to drain; rinsing off Maria in the process.

"Cream can you get a towel and the bag I brought? You can ask Tails I'm sure he'll pass it to you."

"Sure thing Amy! Come Cheese!" Cream skipped out of the bathroom with Cheese in tow, leaving Amy to finishing rinsing all the soap off of Maria.

"Hey Maria?"

Maria's ears perked at the sound of Amy's voice. She turned to Amy who had a small smile on her face.

"Can you try saying Amy? Ay-me." Amy sounded the syllables of her name slowly; Maria realised she was trying to teach her to speak.

"Ah..me…" Maria muttered, trying to make her voice work. She followed the movements of Amy's mouth as best as she could. "Ay..me…Amy."

"Right! That's right! Amy!" Amy smiled.

"Amy."

"Yes Maria that's my name." Amy giggled, "Okay how about Maria. Ma-ree-ya."

"Ma…ree…ya….Maria."

"That's right! You're voice is very sweet." Amy noted. "Can you try Cream next? Kuh-ree-mmm."

"Kuh…ree….mm. Cream."

"And then Tails? Tay-iii-lllss."

"Tay…iii…llll…Tail…s…." Maria followed Amy's mouth movements, "Tails."

"Hey you're a pretty fast learner Maria. Then again you just need a bit of practice to pronounce words huh?"

Maria nodded.

"Hmm tell ya what, I'll teach you how to speak and such and you pretend that you still don't know how to speak okay?" Amy smiled and noticed Maria's confusion, "It'll be our secret! That way we can surprise everyone when you're able to talk! Promise me?" She held out her pinky and Maria held it in her fingers; nodding her head. "Hehe, close enough."

"Amy! I got the towel and bag you asked for!" Cream skipped back into the bathroom, arms full with a large fluffy towel and a bag on her back. She passed Amy the towel and placed the bag in the guest room.

"Thanks Cream." Amy then began rubbing the towel on Maria's head before pulling Maria up and drying her down. She held Maria's hand as she got the blonde hedgehog to step out of the tub; drying her feet before she made her way into the guest room.

"I guess you're my size." Amy spoke, setting the towel aside and moving to claim her bag. "Otherwise Tails wouldn't have asked me." She opened the bag and pulled out a pink dress with a pair of matching pink shoes and black leggings*. She turned to see Maria staring at herself in the mirror. Amy smiled and walked over, "Like what you're seeing Maria?"

Maria turned to Amy and blinked, placing her hands on Amy's cheeks and eyeing her quills. She then turned to observe her own face and quills in the mirror. She ran a hand up to her ears and back to her cheeks, glancing back at Amy in the process. She even checked their tails.

"What, are you thinking that we look alike somewhat?" Amy mused, knowing that Maria couldn't respond without the speech device. "It's because we're both hedgehogs." Amy smiled, "You're a hedgehog, I'm a hedgehog. Cream's a rabbit, Cheese is a chao."

"And Mr. Tails is a fox!" Cream piped with a cheery voice.

"That's right." Amy smiled before turning Maria to face her, "We better get you changed though." She lifted Maria's arms so that she could pull the dress over her before helping her with the rest of the outfit. Once she was done, she gave Maria one last look before smiling again. "You look really nice in that outfit Maria. Though it'll be more fun when we go shopping for you! Right Cream?"

As Amy and Cream talked amongst themselves, Maria observed the two girls before staring at herself. She noticed that they were all clothed yet Tails was not. She then turned to see that all three of them were also female…..

It suddenly dawned on Maria that the reason behind Tails being incredibly embarrassed earlier was probably because he was a boy. Maria blinked at her discovery, well, he did have to deal with a naked girl. The concept of embarrassment is a strange thing.

"Maria? Are you listening?" Amy waved a hand in front of Maria's face. "Come on, we'll go downstairs and show Tails!" Amy held Maria's hand and began to leave the guest room with Cream and Cheese in tow. The four of them were at the bottom of the stairs when they heard a strange growling noise coming from Maria.

Maria clutched her stomach and gave them a look of panic. What in the world…She blinked with fearful eyes but Amy and Cream only looked at each other before giggling. Didn't they understand something was up with her?

"Miss Maria." Cream smiled, "You're hungry." She said, "That's something that happens when your'e hungry."

"I guess we better get you something to eat first huh?" Amy laughed, both her and Cream taking Maria's hand and leading her to get some food.


End file.
